GTRI News

Combining psychology and high-end robotics research, Alan
Wagner with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) works to create robots
that will interact with a wide variety of people in as many different social
situations as possible.

Wagner, a research scientist within GTRI’s Aerospace,
Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS), is one of 40 recipients of the
Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (AFOSRYIP) award
for his proposal “Trust and Trustworthiness in Human-Robot Interaction: A
Formal Conceptualization.” Established for the “young investigator,” AFOSR
seeks those who have received their doctoral or equivalent degrees within the
last five years. The award is for $360,000 over three years. Wagner joins
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Yang Wang as
the only two Georgia Tech award recipients.

Wagner’s research interests include social robotics, social
learning and human-robot interaction. He joined GTRI in January 2010. Focusing
on robot-human interaction in a wide variety of social situations, Wagner’s
work draws heavily on theory from social psychology and aims to develop the
computational underpinnings that will not only allow a robot to act “socially”
in the presence of humans, but will also allow the robot to reason about a
person’s own social behavior.

“Alan’s proposal was the only AFOSR YIP winner in the area
of robotics, which speaks to how unique and groundbreaking his work is,” said
Georgia Tech Vice President and GTRI Director Bob McGrath. “These are very
competitive awards, reserved for those earlier career researchers that the Air
Force deems as demonstrating exceptional ability and promise.”

In previous work with Georgia Tech College of Computing
Associate Dean Ron Arkin, Wagner developed, implemented and tested algorithms
that allowed a robot to model and deceive an interactive partner. For this
latest proposal, Wagner applies the same framework to the opposite end of the
spectrum: trust. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from
Northwestern University in 1997, his masters degree in computer science from
Boston University in 2001 and his doctorate from Georgia Tech in 2009.

Open to young scientists and engineers at
research institutions who have shown an exceptional ability and promise for
conducting basic research, the competition will award nearly $15 million in
grants this year. ASOFR seeks to foster creative basic research in science and
engineering while enhancing early career development of and increasing
opportunities for young investigators who recognize the mission of the Air Force
and related challenges in science and engineering.